Hey clarke54321,
I've included the solutions to your question below, despite using a very similar method to RuiAce, hehe.
Find the equations of the lines that pass through the point (1,7) and touch the parabola:
1. Using the point-slope formula, substitute the given point (1,7):
y-y1 = m(x-x1) --> Let y1 = 7, x1 = 1.
Hence y-7 = m(x-1), gives equation 1: y=mx-m+7
2. Let equation 2 => y=-3x^2+5x+2 (i.e. the inital parabola). Now let equation 1 and equation 2 equal one another to give:
mx+7-m = -3x^2+5x+2
3x^2-5x-2+mx+7-m=0
3x^2+(m-5)x+ (5-m)=0
3. The equation 3x^2+(m-5)x+(5-m)=0 is the new quadratic (mentioned in the hint section) that is required to solve the problem. This quadratic is still in the form y=ax^2+bx+c. Let the discriminant of this equation equal 0.
0=b^2-4ac, whereby b=(m-5), a=3, c=(5-m)
0=(m-5)^2-4(3)*(5-m)
0=(m^2-10m+25)-12(5-m)
0=m^2+2m-35
0=(m-7)(m-5)
∴ m = -7 or m = 5
4. Let m = -7. Substitute this value into y=mx+c, along with the point (1,7):
y=-7x+c
7=-7(1) + c
∴ c = 14
∴ y=-7x+14
5. Let m=5. Substitute this value into y=mx+c, along with the point (1,7):
y=5x+c
7=5(1) + c
∴ c = 2
∴ y=5x+2
∴ Your solutions are y=-7x+14 and y=5x+2.
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Hopefully you found this post helpful!
